The Brutal Beauty: the story behind Cashmere, District 1
by wildflower1919
Summary: In District 1 Cashmere was famous, she was apart of the Mercer family, also known as the Family of Victors. She was beautiful, yet brutal, she could fight. It was her games, and everyone knew it. She knew her fate, she was going to win the 64th Hunger games. But everything changed when she met Dixon, he was her everything. she knew she found the one. To bad one of them had to die
1. Chapter 1

As I made my way to the stage, the look on Lavender Dillywood's face was pure excitement. She was district 1's escort, and anyone who knew my family would understand her excitement. A member of my family has been in the games consecutively for the last 5 years. We were even before that, but ever since the 50th quarter quell when my oldest sister whom I never met lost to Haymitch Abernathy. Which was a huge surprise, since he was from District 12; one of the poorer districts, and had absolutely no chance of winning. Well he beat the odds for sure, but now I have a dead sister I never met. My family decided to mourn her death and call it quits for a couple years. It took 9 years for the mercer family to get back in the games. So far they have all won, and now it's my turn. I am actually glad I was picked, I was going to volunteer anyone, the whole family has talked about it, I am ready, and have a better chance this year then my twin brother does. He needs more time to train. Which is surprising, since he's a guy and all.

"Isn't it just terrific, another Mercer!" Lavender yells into her microphone, her voice is just aggravating, and very unpleasant. Knowing I will be stuck with her for the next few weeks is what scares me the most not the games.

"Well I very sure everyone knows you are darling, but please say your name either way" Lavender says. She has such an odd way of speaking, her grammar is terrible, and at times she makes very little since.

"Cashmere Mercer" I say, loudly and proudly. I look up at the crowd and try to find Gloss, he is in the section where they keep all the 13-16 year old boys. We are both 14, but we turn 15 on may 19, in exactly 10 days. I will be in the arena on my 15th birthday.

I finally find my Gloss he is staring at me, I can see it in his eyes, he's scared for me. Even if he knew this was going to happen either way "I'm a mercer, I'll be okay." I mouthed to him. "I know" he mouthed back. Gloss is my twin brother, he's my built in best friend, he's my life, and he's all I have had since our mother died. Sure I have other siblings but ever since she died I've only noticed Gloss. My Gloss. As I start to come back from my thoughts, I realize Lavender has wasted little time.

"Boy time for the tribute" she shouts. Gosh her grammar is already annoying me. She picks the name out of the huge bowl and steps to the microphone. Please don't be Gloss, please don't be Gloss, please please please. That wasn't in the plan, and It wasn't. A little boy around 12 makes his way up to the stage. He looks little and scared beyond belief. As he walks up he starts sucking on his thumb and staring at the ground. I soon realize that his name is Orville Diamond, his name is so unique but not common for district 1, usually it would be the other way around. I start to drift off, thinking of all the crazy names of all my siblings, most of them were a bit off the wall, but others not so much. There was Scarlet, Opal, Dean, Hollis, Cyprus, Lennox, and of course Gloss and I. Okay guess we all have pretty odd- All of a sudden I'm stopped mid thought, to two words. "I volunteer". Those words frighten me more than I thought they would, only because I'm afraid that those words are coming for Gloss. Even apart of me knows it isn't him, he cares for me as much as I care for him, he would never do that do both of us. I scan the crowd, and there he is standing with the other boys, scared out of his mind. of course, even if he has nothing to worry about, he has always been the worrying type. I have always been the tough one out of the two of us. I was also the older one. This means, 1. I have major bragging rights, and 2. I'm the boss.

I scan the crowd again look for the volunteer, and there he was making his way to the stage. As I see him my mouth almost drops. It's Dixon Fanly, the son of a victor who won the games around the time of my father's games, maybe even consecutively. He was a tall young man around 6'0, he was strong, and quite attractive. As I began to think of his looks, and his family and how nice the guy really is for volunteering for a young little boy, I become very terrified. What if I don't win, this guy has it all. "Get your act together Cash" I think to myself. "You are Cashmere Mercer, the brutal beauty, you will win" and from there I stand straight and look forward. When it is time to shake Dixons hand, I turn to him and give him a very stern look. He looks at me like I'm crazy, I just roll my eyes. "I'm in it to win it" I mouth to him, he mouths back "I know." What? I say in my mind if he knew why the heck did he volunteer, does he not get he is now my biggest competition?! I become frustrated with the whole situation and almost storm off into the building behind us when Lavender grabs are hands, holds them up in the air, and right as she is about to speak the mayor grabs the microphone and says "I present to you the District 1 tributes of the 64th hunger games!" he says proudly. He must be tired of her grammatical errors as well. As we walk in, and they start leading us into the rooms where we meet our family, I start to give myself a pep talk quietly. "You are Cashmere Mercer, you are brutal, you are beautiful, and you will be the winner of the 64th Hunger Games." As I start to walk up the stairs I hear something behind me. "yes your Cashmere Mercer, yes your Brutal, yes your Beautiful, and I promise you that I will give all that I have to make sure you win the 64th hunger games" at first I thought it was Dean, my older brother and also one of my mentor, but his voice was never that assuring. I turn around and standing right behind me with a huge grin on his face is Dixon Fanly, the other District 1 tribute.


	2. Chapter 2

I looked at him and rolled my eyes. As the peacekeepers started leading us to our rooms, he just stared at me like he was going to eat me. It started to aggravate me, I don't think I can deal with that for a week and then on top of that as long as he lasts in the games. He is a career, he's relatively strong, and oh so good looking. He will last. Unless I talk him out of being a career. I start thinking up a few ideas until I just can't take it anymore.

I finally spoke up and said "Gosh you look at me like I'm a cupcake and you just so happen to be starving, like seriously stop." It was obvious I sounded annoyed.

"You're too pretty to be a cupcake, you're more like a sculpture, classically beautiful" he said with a huge smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes and frowned at him, his friendliness is disgusting, doesn't he understand there is a possibility he will be dead in a month? My mind starts to travel to different things, such as my strategy. I have a few ideas that I will talk over with Dean and Opal when I get into the train. My father walks in, interrupting my thoughts. He smiles at me with his smile, warm and welcoming.

I run to him, and give him a huge hug. "I'm doing it Papa, I'm on track to win" my voice is bold, but you can still here the fear.

"You are so Brave Cashy, I love you so much" he says. Other then Gloss my father is my support system; lately we have been able to connect because of the games. Ever since my mother died, the games have been how our family has dealt. They have been our outlet.

"Mama would have been so proud"

I start to talk then I stop. Just the thought of her upsets me, she never liked the games. She thought they were evil and once my older sister died she couldn't even imagine dealing with another of her kids death, so she said no more games as long as she was alive. She died the January before the 59th hunger games. That was Dean's year, he volunteered unexpectedly and at first our father was very upset.

Until he won of course, it was so obvious Dean was going to win, he was Dean. He was a Mercer, so of course he had the looks to get more sponsors. Believe it or not, but the better looking you are the more the Capitol people root for you. He was also very fit, he still is. And of course he was a Career, since he came from district 1.

"You know how she felt about the games Papa" I finally said into his ear. We were still embracing. I knew our time was running out. I was trying to cherish every last minute I had with him, but a part of me knew this wasn't going to be the last time.

He let go of me and took me by the shoulders. I can tell he could see that tears starting to swell in my eyes. I fought it as much as I could, because I don't cry. I am Cashmere Mercer, I'm brutal but beautiful. I say over and over again in my mind.

"I just hate how much I knew she hated the games, I feel like I'm betraying her." I said, my tears starting to dry out.

"She hated them because Scarlet died, if she would have won it would have been different Cashy. "

"What if I die?" I ask. Talking about my sister's death and my mother just makes me feel vulnerable. A feeling I never ever feel.

"Oh Cashy you will not die, remember who you are!' he practically shouts. Then he continues. "Oh and Dixon, as long as he is with you; you're not dying." He said

I start to smile finally, then I start analyze what he just said. When a peacekeeper walks in to tell us times up, my father is friends with every peacekeeper in District 1, so we had more time than usual. But they have to come it eventually.

"What did you just say?!" I say, I sound mad, probably because I am.

"Talk to him about it" he said as he walked out "I love you" he continued then was gone. He was gone, I couldn't get answers, and he was gone. Why did he do that to me? Why did he leave me with such a huge question mark in my brain that just makes me even more frustrated then I already am.

I pace back and forth as I wait for the next person to walk in. I know I wouldn't have many visitors. Maybe just 1 more and that would be Gloss, he had promised me he would come. Even if he was sure I was coming back. Everyone was so sure that I was coming back. In district 1 I was already there victor, even before I was reaped, it was well known that this was the year that 14 almost 15 year old Cashmere Mercer would volunteer. It was such a coincidence that I was reaped.

Suddenly some strange man walked in and that made me completely confused. He looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out who he was. At soon as the door opened I was so sure that it would be Gloss coming to comfort me and reassure me that I am Cashmere Mercer the Victor of the 64th Hunger games. But I was wrong. I was very wrong.

I was sitting down on the shiny silver couch, and he sat next to me. I looked at him confused and said "Do I know you?"

He laughed and smiled, then said "Well you should sweetie, I've been your neighbor your whole life" he paused and his smile faded. "I'm Dixons father" he said. Oh yeah, it all clicked. Dixon was the child of another Victor, who happened to be our neighbor in the Victor village and also my father's best friend.

He had some crazy name, spooky. No that's not it. "Sparky" I said. He nodded. "Umm Dixon is across the hall sir." I was quite confused. Why was he even here? I have had enough of Dixon to last me my whole entire life.

He laughed "Your father warned me that you are a pistol" he said "But I'm actually here to see you dear" he paused to collect his words and continued.

"What I am about to tell you is going to shock you, so brace yourself Cashmere. Okay?"

"Nothing shocks me, but Okay, shoot" I said.

He was right, I was completely shocked. The words that came out of his mouth short of soothed me but at the same exact time, they really pissed me off.

"he wants to what?!" I practically shouted "he must be misunderstood, I am perfectly capable of saving myself, and I don't need his help or anyone else's help to be exact." But I was wrong, extremely wrong.

My voice sounded raspy, like I have been yelling a lot lately. And to be honest I have been. Everyone has been trying to tell me what to do and how I have been dealing with the pressure to be perfect I going to the very edge of district 1, finding a high mountain and screaming my head off.

"That's what we all have told him Cashmere, but he's hard headed dear, very" he said very calmly. "He's just like his mother." You can tell the word mother were hard words for him to say. Sparky and my father weren't just neighbors, and fellow victors. They were both the husbands of the 2 women killed in a fire brought on by apparently a couple of kids. But we all know it was 2 peacekeepers messing around.

"Please let him, it's all I ask from you dear, at least let him try" he continued. "It's his dying wish" you can see the worry in his face. I start to realize that there is more to this situation then I think. Dixon is dying, I thought. And it wasn't just because there's a chance another tribute from a different district will shoot him in the heart with a bow and arrow. It was something way bigger and way worse than that. I just felt it.

"His dying wish?" I finally asked, my voice sounds weak.

His face turned pale, for a man with porcelain skin I didn't think he could turn any paler. He can tell I know something is up. I may be making it obvious, because this is the saddest and most worried I have looked all day. At least the saddest he has seen me.

"Oh" he said, like he said something he shouldn't have said. I know he did. "I mean you both have a huge chance of dying dear, and he has already promised it won't be you" he frowned at me and in just a second or so he turned hi s frown into a huge cheesy smile. "My Dixon never breaks a promise dear" even while he was smiling I could tell there was something up. I can read people; most see that as a gift but don't be fooled. When you read people you start to feel what they feel, and I can't afford to feel sad, at least not in a life or death situation. So I pick myself up and try to ignore the situation, but it doesn't exactly work.

I have never been good with sick people, at least not the ones who can't help being sick. Not the ones losing their own battle. Just the thought of sick people starts to upset me more. So I begin to think of something that makes me happy, like cows and turtles. They are just both so adorable.

Before I could think of something to say or ask, a peace keeper walks in and says times up. Sparky, Dixons father walks up and right as he is about to walk out he says one last think to me.

"One last thing dear" he said and continued as soon as I nodded my head "please promise me you won't fall in love" he paused for a second to reorganize his thoughts, and then said "just not in the games, not with my Dixon." His face seemed sincere but just him even thinking those thoughts and saying those words, made me want to fly right through the roof and blow up into a million pieces. I am done being sad, now I'm just mad.

I screamed back "and why the hell would I do that?" I can feel that my light skin was turning red, my heart started beating really fast as he replied "just promise me, okay? " His voice was so gentle and smooth, it almost sounded like he understood. It felt like he understood everything that I was going through. For a second I felt like I just wasn't alone in this situation. That it was Sparky and I against the world, flying high in the sky above the clouds. Until I finally landed back on earth and realized how creepy that actually sounded.

My mind was wondering as he spoke the last words I would hear from Dixons father in a while.

"please just say okay!" he basically shouted, his eyes started tearing up, this whole situation felt as if it was way more dear to his heart then he made it out to be. Dixon was sick, or something in that matter; and I will find out the truth.

Great I said to myself, one more thing to worry about.

I didn't want to speak, there were so many emotions floating around all throughout my body. When I feel things, I just don't feel them in my heart, but I feel them everywhere. Sparky was waiting in the doorway for my response. The peacekeeper was just waiting for him to be done. I am so sure he was friends with the peacekeepers too, so they were lenient on him as well.

It took me a second but got up to courage to speak again.

"Okay." I said, my voice sounded weak though, something that I had to work on, with everything that is going on, feeling weak is the last thing I need.

He walked out and slammed the door. He seemed so upset, like him saying the last few words that he did brought up the weaker side in him. And for the first time in a while my insides started twisting and turning. This used to happen a lot after my mother died, at least until Dean volunteered. I started putting all my energy into training for the games when Dean won and all the twisting and turning went away. I was unbreakable until now.

I paced back in forth until I finally just fell to the floor. I started to cry. I thought I was ready but I am not, I am not ready for this. I am too young to die; even my brutal but beautiful catch phrase couldn't help me, not even now. Nothing could help me I thought. Just when I was about to completely fall apart, he walked in.


End file.
